14 JANUARY 1928, Page 3

The munificence of the financial support for the theatre which

has conic from America is remarkable. About £200,000 has- been contributed by Americans—in other 'Words, about four times the amount contributed in this country. This is one of the most striking demon- strations we can remember of the proud and frank acknowledgment by Americans of the spiritual sources of their thought and temper. It ought to remind Englishmen that the plans for the Stratford of the future are well worth paying for—the cultivation of the tolerance and comprehensive sympathy which made* Shakespeare quintessentially English, and the sending about the country of companies who will present his plays with that- combination of verbal reverence and vivacity in action that proclaims 'true understanding.

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